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Day 1: The Watchman 6.9

Dave, August and I biked (well, August just ran ...) in about 9 miles and then stashed our bikes.  We then crossed both branches of the Eklutna (right where they met) and proceeded to look for "the trail/"  Oddly, the hunter's trail is not very obvious down low but gets better as you ascend (opposite from what you would think).  This led us to a great ridge.  Luckily, the clouds parted right when we needed them to do so.  The final 20 vertical feet required about 30 feet of slab climbing.  We roped up for this and I led the short section.  On the way down, I found that the snow on the slab was not as dubious as thought which made for an even easier ascent and descent for Dave.  We ended the day by having a quick bite to eat at the bikes and then hiking in to Telchina Falls where we spent the night.

 

At the bikes

Getting across the rivers

I put my camera away for the 'schwack. This is our first moment after the bushwack and Dave is making a GPS waypoint to ease our descent if need be.

Note the clouds in the background ... they were gone by noon!

Heading up ... but the clouds are still low

The ridge walking was wonderful. However, early on we were still in the clouds.

Luckily, even with the clouds, we found "the bench" that avoided a nasty section of ridge.

And then the clouds broke ... and it was amazing!

For awhile the clouds remained thick in some areas.

Bee's Haven

Rumble (right) and the flank of Benign

The Watchman

The Watchman

Climbing the upper snow slopes of The Watchman

My favorite photo from the weekend

Some of the upper ridge looked nasty but the sheep had set a fairly nice trail that wound its way through the gendarms.

Dave with the final bit to the summit behind him.

Looking down from the summit (after leading a very, very short bit of rock (maybe 20 feet of vertical gain over 30 feet).

Looking down on Pitchler's Perch

Looking at tomorrow's goal: Baneful (in the foreground)

Dave heading up

Dave on top

August did not get to do the last 20 feet of vertical. He stayed and minded over the belay.

Heading down provided lots of opportunities to gawk at the surrounding area in 70 degree temperatures.

An all too brief buttslide

A look back at the route

Cool rock.

Dave getting around a tricky spot

On the trail.

Using the Crocs to get across a stream

Camp at Telchina Falls

Dave and a view of the upper portion of the falls (the lower portion is a wild rooster tail!)

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